Spreading love, joy, peace, faith & unity

Posts tagged ‘advice’

Advice

Daily writing prompt
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

The value of tidbits of advice differs as we hear them at different times in our lives.

As a young child, my mom’s advice always included words of encouragement:
“Let your light shine.”
“You can be anything you decide you want to be.”
“You are more than good enough.”
“Take it one day at a time.”

Mom certainly let her light shine!!

Later in life, I have discovered that I can receive valuable advice daily by reading my Bible, reading devotionals written by Christ-like, modern-day disciples, and listening to compassionate friends. They say things like:

We should never tire of seeking advice and heeding the words of wise counsel.
http://www.Motivational Words of Wisdom.com always has sound advice.

It’s hard (in fact impossible for me) to narrow pieces of advice down to the one best.
How about you?

God’s latest advice to me was, “Slow down and watch where you’re going!”
Do you hear God’s advice being shouted in your ear at times, too?

Stress Less

We overdid ourselves today with five “not so simple” tasks:
1) Get helpers to reassemble our fridge, move it back into the kitchen, and hook it up to water, etc.
2) Move the downstairs rug & pad up into the dining room
3) Move the living room rug and pad back to its place
4) Hang a few pictures back on the wall in the hallway and entry
5) Vacuum the new floors in the living room, dining room, and kitchen & dust everything

It was harder than it sounds – even with wonderful helpers!!

I am going to go to Bob with #8 and then
Take you up on #5

Which of those 9 pieces of advice
do you think will work best for you today?

Tomorrow
gotta clean that fridge and put stuff back into it
(Oh – it’ll be so nice to have it accessible again!)

Good night!

Thanks for visiting JanBeek today…
See ya tomorrow (God willing)…

Ah TazE… she beat me to bed!!



Life’s Lesson

I was off-line as we traveled safely home yesterday. Thank you for your prayers! God heard. God answered. The weather conditions (except for one little patch of dense fog just before Twin Falls – out of Jackpot) and the roads were clear and perfect. We are happy to be home!

Coming through Island Park, guided by the moonlight
The Alpine glow of the sky led us homeward
in joyful anticipation

The Bloganuary prompt yesterday asked us to consider a “Life Lesson” worth remembering. I cannot do more justice to this question than to share with you this blog from “Written Word.” It’s perfect!

My response to her was to be sure that heart is filled with the voice of the Holy Spirit. Following such advice will always lead to satisfaction. God bless you!

Keeping up with the daily prompts from Bolganuary can be difficult when traveling. I hope you don’t mind that I borrowed from a fellow blogger today. Have a wonderful Sunday! <3

Advice to Teenage Self

WordPress started a new program called Bloganuary each day they’ll give us a writing prompt. I’ll see if I can find inspiration in this new program – and share comments with some fellow bloggers I haven’t met before.

My 2021 blogs all began with my word for the year, “Embrace.” We had spent 2020 with the absence of hugs … and that was really hard for me. It was not difficult to think of a subject to embrace each day.

Our daughter, De, at age 19.

Now, let’s see what my life experience can do with these new daily prompts!

What Advice Would I Give to My Teenage Self?

I wrote a poem for my daughter, DeAna, when she was 19, married her sweetheart, André, and left us in CA to go live with him in his home country of Switzerland. My advice to her was wrapped up in this poem. It’s the same advice I would have given to my own teenage self:

I hope you are able to read that, dear blogging friends. And I hope you have been given (and can give in return) “Gifts Your Kids Can’t Break”

God bless you this New Year’s Day. May 2022 be a memorable year of many hugs and many blessings from Our Lord to you and your loved ones.

Please pray for my husband, Bob, who is in ER right now with congestive heart failure.

Love, JanBeek

Embrace Simplicity

Who am I to tell you
How to live your life?
Who am I to suggest
Ways to eliminate strife?

Simplicity’s elusive
In this world of more and more.
Simplicity’s evasive
For both the rich and poor.

When we live in a world of plenty
We have more than we need, lots more.
We have so much it pushes its way
Onto the chairs and into the floor.

We go out shopping for others
And find a book we can’t live without.
No more room on our bookshelves –
“Stop! Embrace Simplicity!” our houses all shout.

Embrace Simplicity!

We go out shopping for others
And some absolutely essential gift
Jumps off the shelf and tells us,
“You need this for your own spirit lift!”

But living with less stuff and clutter
Is the best spirit lifter you will find.
Let’s embrace simplicity, my friends.
It’s an important clearing of the mind!

Like weeds in an otherwise garden of beauty,
Your mind and your home need clear space!
Get rid of the clutter and give your brain room
To live in simplicity and to exude love and grace.

Maybe this Christmas my shopping
Should be in my own cluttered house.
Instead of searching, stressing, and buying,
I wonder who’d like that lovely red blouse?


I’m off to see if I can follow my own advice.
Wouldn’t that be nice?
But, I really like that blouse…
Maybe I’ll have to think twice!

Have a Simply Happy Week, my friends.
All I want for Christmas is YOU visiting me here!!
See ya tomorrow (God willing)
Love,
JanBeek

Embrace Sunglasses

If you have been following my blog, you know
last Sunday I ran into the hatchback of our car.
Lesson learned: watch where you’re going!!

The bump was a really painful goose egg!

By Monday, the blood collected in that bump
started traveling down my face.
I thought it looked pretty bad on Tuesday morning.

But that was nothing compared to today!
My grandson, Sam, who lives in California,
texted and asked, “How ya doin’ today?”

I sent him a picture of the way I am looking today.

And what do you think his response was??

“Oh Grammy, just wear sunglasses!”

Do you s’pose I could pull that off?
Just cover the bruises with sunglasses?

My daughters, Laina and DeDe, look really cute in their sunglasses!

I tried it,
but the bridge of my nose
where the sunglasses would rest
is really sensitive.
I couldn’t stand
the pressure on the bruises.


So,
EMBRACE SUNGLASSES
if they work for you.

Stay tuned for what’s gonna help me.

I think it’s just a matter of time.
What do you think?

Do you have any advice for what you think I should do?



See ya tomorrow (God willing).
Have a good night.

Love,
JanBeek

When I first told my family…

We were having one of my favorite meals, spaghetti with meat sauce, when I first told my family that I had broken up with my fiance’. My dad nearly choked on his mouthful. My mom shoved her plate of spaghetti half-way across the table!

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels.com

To this day, I can’t eat spaghetti with meat sauce without remembering that day.

My fiance’ and I had been engaged for about a year. He was in the army, stationed in Germany. I was a senior in college, missing the social life, trying to remain true to my engagement. I wanted to attend the school’s dances and other social functions. It was hard!

Rather than being untrue to my boyfriend who was so far away (we had not seen each other in six months), I broke off with him. Obviously, my parents were devastated. Especially when they learned the guy I wanted to date was a divorce’.

“Why buy a used car when you can have a new one?” my dad finally spoke. Then he got up and walked out of the room. (Yes, Dad was a man of few words, but a list of prejudices a mile long!)

Mom followed him, without speaking a word. That was so unlike her.

Proverbs 6: 20-23

20 My son, obey your father’s commands,and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. 21 Keep their words always in your heart. Tie them around your neck. 22 When you walk, their counsel will lead you. When you sleep, they will protect you. When you wake up, they will advise you. 23 For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life.

The man I broke up with was from a family very much like my own. He grew up in the same area I did. We shared common roots. My parent and his got along wonderfully. The man I wanted to date was nine years older than I. I won’t get into why he was so attractive to me, but suffice to say, my parents’ dismay touched me deeply.

They let me have my “fling.” They did not bad-mouth my new friend. But when my ex-boyfriend came home on leave, they invited him over. When I returned home from college that weekend, he was there. I realized how much I loved him. That love has carried us through 58 years of marriage. Not always perfect, not always blissful, but always respectful, and always knitted together in prayer, faith in God, and common purpose. The love has grown as years passed – and I am grateful every day for my parents’ wisdom.

Put a plate of spaghetti and meatballs in front of me. I can taste the kindness of my parents in every meatball. I can hear my mom’s silence and feel her prayers in every slurp of pasta. I feel my dad’s concern about age differences and divorce. I keep their love in my heart with every Italian meal! God bless ’em!!

Today at d’Verse we are trying a new form of poetry. Synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon in which stimulation of one sense leads to automatic, involuntary experiences of a second one.   There are over 80 types of synesthesia described by science.   Nearly every combination of sensory experiences or cognitive concepts is possible.

Seeing music as colors is one form of synesthesia. Perceiving letters as personalities is another one, or seeing numbers in color. Even hearing colors or touching smells.

How about tasting memories?
Do you have any of those?

Photo by Ali Nafezarefi on Pexels.com

This post is a combination prompt: 1) My Madison Valley Writers’ Group Prompt was the title of the blog, and 2) the d’Verse prompt informed the style and content. It’s not poetry… but it may qualify as Synesthesia. What do you think?

My Italian Daddy and me

See ya tomorrow.
Thanks for visiting
JanBeek

Love Shine a Light

In her Annika Perry’s Writing Blog today, Annika posted this wonderful song:

Annika wrote,
“The specially organised show in the Netherlands
entitled ‘Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light’
was inspired by the song ‘Love Shine a Light’
by Katrina and the Waves
which won in 1997 for the UK.

The pièce de résistance
was the incredible finale;
singing alone at home,
the performers as a whole sung ‘Shine a Light’.
There was not a dry eye in the house
as the full impact of the One joining forces
to create a unity shone out across Europe!”

To read/see/hear more of her post, click here:
https://annikaperry.com/2020/07/05/pull-up-a-pew/
….and be sure to click on that gorgeous, inspiring You,Tube song.
There is no way my Monday morning “be like” this poor little pug,
when I can “Pull Up a Pew” next to Annika
and be inspired by her
“images giving a hint of [her family’s] new lives.”

Check out Annika’s delightful blog and leave a comment. Tell her JanBeek sent you!

Blogs like hers are such a gift…
…just as your visit to JanBeek and your comments
are a gift to me!

Many thanks to Janice Salois and Daily Word from Unity Publications for this lovely poem.

Other Writers are Gifts

As I spend time reading my Bible and devotionals and spending time checking out the recent posts of the blogs I follow, I am especially cognizant of what a gift you writers are to me! You share from your souls – some grateful, some melancholy, some inspirational, others troubled or questioning, all are snippets of life in various parts of the world.

I love visiting, praying with, and walking with Donna “thefathersfeet” every morning:

I enjoy strolling through derrickjknight‘s garden and neighborhood with him & his wife (the head gardener) each day:

Derrick & Jackie take me on a wonderful journey in Great Britain each day.

I am endebted to Cristian Mihai for his daily blogging tips and inspiration. He never fails to motivate my desire to log in to my WP site and share with you. He “walks the talk” and always practices what he preaches. His titles are often quite intriguing:

I fall in love with poetry all over again each day I log into Roth Poetry and read what Dwight has shared today. I love, love, love her “Life is a Poem” that she posted today. Click on “Roth’s Poetry” in blue up there to read the poem:

Love shines its light on me when I go to Pat Cegan’s “Source of Inspiration ” each day and dwell in the warmth of her poetry. I don’t have to do anything but just BEE there… and I feel healing love and peace radiate from her words.

If you want to practice shining the light of love on others, try going to:

Sharing the Gift the blog Pat posted a day ago. She has love to share! I took what I needed and a little extra for you!

I always enjoy Richard at BigSkyBuckeye and the ideas he shares so freely – his own as well as others. Today he shared his granddaughter’s poem in “Monday Memories:”

Monday Memories: Gratitude

This poem is a guest post from my then 11-year old granddaughter.  She wrote this poem for her Language Arts class, and she has given permission to post her untouched words just as she wrote them.  Enjoy the gratitude that she shares.

Check it out… and share with me some of the blogs that are your daily go-to’s. Which bloggers inspire YOU the most?

I hope my posts add light and love to your world.

Have a Wonderful Week, my friends.
I am shining the Light of Love in your direction today.
God Bless You!!
Virtual Hugs,
JanBeek

The 5 P’s of Blogging

The Art of Blogging . One of the bloggers I have followed from Day 1 on Word Press is Cristian Mihai who writes on The Art of Blogging. His tips always are right on! His coaching is helpful for those of us who are trying to improve our blogging skills. Isn’t that all of us?

woman in front of her computer

Photo by Retha Ferguson on Pexels.com

This week he reminded us that blogging is not about numbers. It’s not about how many followers or how many “likes” or how many comments we get. It’s about the people. “Build relationships,” he told us. Cristian continued by reminding us that it’s about passion. Write about things you really care about, he instructed. You can’t improve your blog if you don’t know WHY you are blogging, he said. Cristian Mihai always reminds me that I need to be clear about my purpose. What do I hope to accomplish?
ask blackboard chalk board chalkboard

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

People, Passion, Purpose, Precision, and Pleasure . I wrote to Cristian thanking him for the 3 P’s of successful bloggers, but then suggested we need to add two more P’s: precision and pleasure. I need to be precise about what I write. Make sure the words are spelled correctly, the grammar is correct, and the format is pleasing. Add sub-titles. Add pictures. Edit out superfluous words. Read it aloud to myself or my dog. Make sure it sounds real.

No one will return to a blog that is sloppy or one that uses objectionable language. Or at least not many people will. We all know that. Those kinds of words and messes turn me off!

top view of black and white typography sentences

Photo by Kaboompics .com on Pexels.com

And the 5th “P” of successful blogging is pleasure. I take pleasure in writing about the things I am passionate about. I get enormous pleasure out of communicating with the people who leave comments. I love getting to know people from India, Sri Lanka, Canada, Venezuela, Germany, Finland, etc… it’s FUN!! I really enjoy looking at where y’all are from.

man sitting on a green grass field

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Have FUN! . As long as you’re having fun, taking pleasure in the writing process, and enjoying the connections that your blog makes possible, I think you’re on the right track. As long as you write about your passions (one of mine is this “Loving One Another” subject), and as long as you stay true to your purpose and do it with the greatest precision you can muster, then I think you are a blogging “artist.”

I’m glad you are here at JanBeek. I hope we can get to know one another, encourage one another, and give each other feedback as often as possible.

You matter to me. You’re my people!

friends-price-tags

Have a good night. See ya tomorrow.

Improve Your Morning

Improve your routine
‘Cuz when your morning’s better
Your whole day is, too.

Which of these 15 suggestions are NOT already part of your morning routine? The one that’s lacking for me is exercise! So, if I’m gonna “Walk the Talk” as I promised myself, I guess I better start walking, huh?

It’s another beautiful morning here. I’m outta here.

I think I’ll look at things from outside for awhile.
You wanna walk with me?
It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.
Come on along…

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